Chuck the Beaver Makes a Friend

Day 16 – May 26, 2009
Wow, what an eventful couple of days. We have another great group of pastors to work with here in Warrambui. The second day focuses on developing individual coaching skills in isolation. Needless to say it’s quite interactive and quite tiring. We had a great time discussing the various questions that arise as we work on shifting how we dealing with a common situation – dealing with individuals who come to us asking us to help them as they try to cope with a conflict they are in. It always amazes me at the insights that the people we work with have into the process. I always grow just as much as they do as we work through the material.
In all the excitement of teaching into the evening, getting settled in to our rooms and doing the blog, I missed an important event from yesterday – Chuck the Beaver made a new friend. During one of our breaks yesterday, a number of kangaroos came hopping up to the area just outside the conference centre. Excited by the opportunity for cross-cultural and interspecies interaction, Chuck immediately introduced himself. Unfortunately, either due to his forward approach to things or his accent, the kangaroo was not too interested in getting acquainted and tried to avoid Chuck at all costs. Disappointed, Chuck returned to the conference centre and the kangaroos returned.
One of the kangaroos had a joey (baby kangaroo) in her pouch and Ted caught a glimpse of its head poking out at one point. Unfortunately, the joey was somewhat shy and didn’t pose for a picture. This morning, we saw a mob of kangaroos down the hill from the conference centre. They are actually quite impressive animals, with strong legs and quite nasty looking front claws. An adult kangaroo can apparently tear a person open if confronted, though the generally flee if at all possible.
Its evening now and many of our pastors are doing their prep work for tomorrows role plays or sitting around visiting. As for me, it will be a quick nightcap and then to bed.
Soli Deo Gloria
Francis.

Warrambui Training

Day 15 – May 25, 2009
We drove from Sydney to Warrambui, a Lutheran camp about 40 km outside of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The drive was took us about 3 hours, giving Ted and I an opportunity to get an up close view of the landscape we had flown over on Friday. The terrain varied as we travelled, though it generally was quite hilly. The first part of the trip was through more heavily forested portions of the State, which were thick with gum trees (eucalyptus trees to those of us from North America). The trees themselves are majestic, forming a high canopy over the forest floor. With gum trees, the bark tends to strip off the trees, leaving a very smooth and often light coloured surface. As our host noted “In North America, your trees lose their leaves but keep their bark. In Australia, our trees lose their bark but keep their leaves.”
The latter part of our drive was through rolling hills, filled with sheep and cattle. We also saw what appeared to be alpacas. Having had some recent rain, much of the land was green and somewhat lush, though at times more thinly grassed.
We arrived at Warrumbui about 11:30 am and began setting up for our 3 day Conflict Coaching Practicum with the New South Wales and New Zealand District Pastors. The conference facility was quite modern, with good multimedia equipment. We quickly set up and were able to enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by the camp staff.
The first day of the practicum we teach the basic of biblical peacemaking. Each group is quite different in its spirit and nature. The NSW/NZ group seemed to very quickly connect to the theme of the gospel that underlies all of the work we do. Indeed, it is the distinctive that sets our work apart from secular mediation and gives it much of its power to restore relationships.
The class continued up to dinner, which was served in the dining hall of the conference hall. Being adjacent to the conference room, we were able to quickly reassemble after dinner for the last part of the day’s teaching. While Ted and my day ended with a devotion about 8:00pm, the pastors of the NSW District met afterwards to conduct some District business. The dedicated pastors of the District worked for over an hour while Ted and I had an opportunity to chat over a drink with the New Zealand pastors. After a bit over an hour, our NSW bretheran joined us for a nightcap and some Stohlen.
Tomorrow we will start the skill development portion of the training. Wednesday will focus on two extended role plays to allow the pastors to apply these skills in a more realistic context. The idea of the longer role plays is to provide them with an opportunity to take some risks in experimenting with the skills and materials we have taught in a safe environment. This will hopefully give them a greater familiarity when they are called to coach individuals in their ministries.
Soli Deo Gloria
Francis.